Modelling
Before any type of models are deployed to the tabletop battlefield, they require assembly and optional painting. This page is a guide for basic assembly and painting, and includes some advanced techniques which will help give the models a refined look. The Basic Assembly Resin tank models Before 2013, Battlefront Miniatures used resin for their tank models, which contained epoxy resin hulls and turrets (or superstructures for self-propelled guns and turretless tank destroyers) with die-cast (soft metal) additional parts. Despite the introduction of plastic model kits, a few Mid-War and Late-War resin German and Soviet vehicles are still sold. The parts need to be dry-fitted before assembly, as the resin and die-cast parts tend to show traces after molding the joints. Both are best cleared with a modeling knife, though this should be done carefully as resin parts are more brittle than polystyrene. After cleaning the recesses, the parts are joined with cyanoacrylate glue, though bigger parts (such as hull and gun barrel threads to the mantlet) might need to be joined with polymer glue. Below are examples of pre-2013 metal/resin model kits, built by the author of this article, presented with one of the plastic model kits from the manufacturer's current offer. Jumbo 01 (5).JPG|A metal/resin M4A3E2 Jumbo Sherman before assembly. Resin T-34 85.JPG|The pre-2013 T-34/85 metal/resin set. Clamps.JPG|Simple office tools help much in the assembly. Plastic model kits Since 2013, Battlefront Miniatures have started releasing plastic model kits as a replacement to the original resin ones. Currently, almost all tank models for the tank formations are available in polystyrene. The model kits come in sprues, containing the parts. The parts then need to be removed from the sprues, either with a modelling knife or scissors, though the knife allows for safer cuts. Then, the recesses should be cleaned, either by being filed or trimmed. Just like the resin models, it is advised to dry-fit the parts before assembly. The models should be glued with polystyrene glue, which dries slower than cyanoacrylates, allowing certain details to be repositioned if necessary. Super glue can also work for plastic models, though this is advised for bigger parts (hull parts and threads) or optional details on painted models, as super glue does not cause paint to melt. Infantry The Infantry units come with figurines (usually a platoon or company) and bases: *Small two-holed bases - for heavy weapons (Bazookas, PIATs, Panzerschreck, 2-inch mortars or Commissar teams); *Small three-hole bases - for infantry command teams, machine gun teams and 60mm mortar teams; *Medium four and five-hole bases - for standard infantry teams (one NCO and three or four soldiers); *Large six-hole bases - for guns. The soldier figurines (both die-cast and plastic are available) are simply glued with cyanoacrylate to their bases, usually facing the long edge. It is suggested to paint the figurines before basing (see below). Battlefront Miniatures suggests using four-hole bases as standard for all the infantry units, though a standard German or Soviet infantry team was composed of five soldiers (ten soldiers in a squad, thirty/forty in a German rifle platoon, forty-five in a Soviet rifle or SMG platoon). All the bases have enough space to glue the fifth figurine around its teammates, so the historical accuracy can be retained. Guns Gun teams are always composed of a gun, a crew handling the gun, and a large base for most of the guns (as only small infantry guns are placed on medium bases). The guns are assembled in the same way as tank models, and are placed on the base with super glue. The guns should be facing the short edge of the base. It is advised to dry fit an assembled gun first, place the crewmen as desired, then attach the gun to the base. If the base has to receive a texture, it is best applied after adding the crew figurines and before attaching the gun. Aircraft The plane models are assembled just like tank models - the only difference being the use of the flight stand, used to imitate the machine in the air. The included rare earth magnets should be used to secure the model's stability on the stand. Painting Prior to 2016, the resin and metal model kits had a bluish gray material color while the die-cast parts retained their silvery metallic color. With the advent of the TANKS table-top game, Battlefront started releasing their new plastic model kits in colors for every nation, just like old-fashioned toy soldiers: *Olive Drab - Americans; *Dark yellow (Dunkelgelb) or a lighter tone of yellow for Mid-War - Germans; *Olivine green - British; *Deep green (based on 4BO green) - Soviets; *Ochre yellow - Italians. Though, infantry model kits are still released as gray polystyrene. The national color selection allows playing Flames of War and TANKS without painting the models, though painting gives the models a more refined look. Basecoating The manufacturer suggests using primer for painting by painting the models black or white before painting, though the acrylic paints available in the market eliminate the need of using the primer. More than three or four layers of paint tend to obstruct details, which is common when painting camouflaged fighting vehicles. The basic Colours of War paints for vehicles, guns, and infantry come both in 400 ml cans or in 12/20 ml containers. Vehicles and guns can be sprayed with the paint for basic colour, though the details are best painted by hand, using small brushes. Infantry figurines should also be painted with the brushes, due to their size. Basing infantry and guns Once the infantry/gun crew figurines have been painted and attached to proper bases, it is advised to paint the bases. The easiest way to do so is by using brown paint, which will cover the gray plastic colour of figurine stands and the brown base colour. Much better effect can be achieved by using texture paints from Citadel Miniatures ''colour range - those cover the natural plastic colour well and leave a nice-looking texture once they dry. The bases can be supplemented with grass tufts, which should be applied with the PVA glue. Applying Decals Each platoon/company/army deal comes with a proper decal sheet, allowing the modeller to mark the vehicles in a proper fashion. The decals need to be cut from the sheet, dipped in water for 20 or 30 seconds (sheets released before 2015 require two-minute dipping to make them leave the film), then applied on the desired surface with a mini brush and carefully positioned with a toothpick. Additional care is required when applying the decals from older sets, as the film tends to break easily. Using the varnish The waterslide decals tend to lose their traits within the years and they often fall down after two or three years after applying. Decal sheets printed before 2014 often dry up and break while applying (see above). The best way of securing those from wearing off is to cover the surface with decals with a good varnish. Once it dries, it leaves a solid film protecting the decals on the surface. Platoon and Company markings Each armoured company is composed of the command section and combat platoons as its core parts. It is advised to mark the respective vehicles with decals or painting to avoid misunderstandings on the tabletop and keep track of the unit leaders. * The Germans distinguished their tanks after their standard three-digit call signs, where the numbers represented from left to right - the company, the platoon, and the vehicle in the platoon. For example, a "423" tank was the third vehicle from the second platoon in the fourth company. Company command tanks had the company digit with double zero indicating a command tank. Different markings indicated battalion command vehicles or regimental command vehicles in some cases. * The British Army used geometric symbols to recognize the vehicles: a hollow diamond for HQ, a hollow triangle for Squadron A, a hollow square for Squadron B, a hollow circle for Squadron C and a solid vertical bar for Squadron D. The HQ unit used white symbols, the colour of squadrons was the same within each regiment, often indicated seniority of the regiment, red, yellow, blue, and green. * The US Army tank companies used bumper codes to distinguish vehicle units, those were composed of a delta symbol and a proper number, and serial numbers. HQ section vehicles tended to have small serial numbers, while those from combat platoons often had larger numbers. It was normal to adopt a convoy order number in a logical format, HQ vehicles would be numbered 1-10, 1st platoon 11-20, 2nd platoon 21-30 and so on. * While there were standard tank markings and numbering systems in the armies mentioned above, such a system did not exist in the Red Army. During World War II, regimental commanders were responsible for the style and meaning of the numbering system in use by their regiment, following STAVKA's order to fool enemy intelligence. As a result, Soviet tanks had painted two- or four-digit numbers on their turrets, slogans written in Cyrillic and the red stars, which were more common on Lend-Lease tanks than the Soviet-built tanks, least until late 1944. Any combination of numbers, tactical emblems, propaganda slogans and Soviet stars on turrets/superstructures will do the trick. Advanced Modelling and Painting Weighting in plastic tank models The plastic model kits do not weigh much, as their hulls and turrets are empty from the inside, making the plastic Tiger and M4 Sherman tank models weigh the same, despite the real German tank being much heavier than the American standard tank. The models can have their hulls (and turrets, if the shape permits) fitted with various materials to increase their weight - apart from creating the weight difference, heavier models do not move easily on the table when it is not desired. Leftover die-cast metal from older model kits, wheel rims and worn out mutters are the best materials to weigh down a tank model from the inside before assembling the hull halves. From the inside, four or five rims superglued to the hull is enough to imitate a heavy tank on the tabletop. Three or two five-gram rims should fit any medium tank. Light tanks might be fitted with one five-gram or 2.5-gram rim in the hull. Interchangeable gun barrels for SturmGeschuetz III G The plastic StuG G comes with barrel options for a 75mm gun and a 105mm howitzer. To save up money on tank models and paint, the models can be built with interchangeable gun barrels, allowing to deploy the vehicle either in the anti-tank variant (with the 75mm gun) or the infantry support one (with the howitzer). The barrels' joints have to be removed, and the joint nest in the hull has to be widened with a drill to make place for a rare-earth magnet. The magnets are attached to the surface with cyanoacrylate glue. The use of the magnets instead fixed barrels also helps in painting - apart from providing an easily accessible area in the hull's front, it also reduces the risk of causing the paint to dry badly. Handling tiny details Nearly all the models released by [[Battlefront Miniatures|''Battlefront]] contain tiny details, which require the use of tweezers to handle them. The easiest way to assemble them is to attach them to the superstructure before removing the superstructure from the sprues. Painting threads before assembly to the hull The upper part of threads in most tanks will not be seen under the upper hull, which makes painting the fully assembled model difficult, while the bottom part (which touches the ground) requires placing the model under inconvenient angles. on a jig made of an ice-cream stick and leftover sprues.]] To avoid those exercises in frustration, it is suggested to paint the thread parts '''before '''removing them from the sprues and assembly. The bottom part of the threads in the assembled model can also be painted using a home-made jig high enough to prevent the model from touching the ground. Tank stowage The easiest way to adorn a tank with stowage items is painting those items before assembly, painting the tank and attaching the painted stowage items to the desired place with cyanoacrylate glue or with the polymer glue. Plastic cement is not advised for this task since it tends to melt the paint in the area it was applied. Building objective markers A number of the plastic model kits released after 2013 allows building two variants of a vehicle, for example, the plastic Panther can be built either as a standard tank with a turret or as Jagdpanther tank destroyer. One upper hull is used in the process and another one remains as a leftover. Those remnants can be utilized to be built as objective markers, useful for missions. The leftover hull usually has enough parts to be completed - it has to be placed on a 50mm x 63 mm base and built as abandoned or destroyed vehicle. The area between the model and the base can be filled with plasticine and painted to imitate snow or mud. Painting German camouflage on tanks The easiest way to paint the German camouflage on armoured vehicles from the 1943-45 period is to apply the primer and cover it with the layers of paint as the camouflage pattern. It can be created either by airbrush or with standard brushes, though the second method allows depicting thinner lines more easily. Anti-aircraft machine guns on German tanks Most of the companies, which produce models for Flames of War, do not provide anti-aircraft machine guns for German tanks, despite there is plenty of photographic evidence with Panzer IVs, Panther tanks and late-production Tiger tanks with MG34 or MG42 attached to commander's cupola. Hopefully, the Sd.Kfz. 251 and Puma armoured car models contain the aforesaid machineguns on stands, which can be used and fitted to most of the German tank commander cupolas. The machinegun has to be carefully cut from its stand, then the stand has to be glued to the cupola. Once it dries, the machinegun can be attached. Those look quite good on tanks with commander figurines in cupolas. Two-in-one tank models A number of the ''Battlefront Miniatures ''models released after 2013 contain options to build different versions of certain vehicles. Those are: * Panther G with Jadgpanther option * SU-85/SU-100 * IS-2 with IS-2m option * The M4A1 Sherman for Late War released in 2019 * The M13/Semovente model * BMP-1/BMP-2 for Team Yankee. The models are designed to build one of the variants, leaving redundant parts for another option. Those can be used either for building objective markers (see above), though much more profitable is to build a model with the interchangeable upper hulls. This trick requires rare earth neodymium magnets, chunks of magnetic-dependent metal (iron rims for car wheels are the best option) and some careful fitting the parts, then gluing them with cyanoacrylate. The effort is worthy, as it allows sparing money for models and gives options to fit for example one platoon of better armed Sherman tanks for Late-War, which can be easily converted for Mid-War battles by simply swapping their hulls. cast hull 01.JPG|The author's trick in using rare earth magnets and iron rims on the M4A1 Sherman tanks. cast hull 02.JPG|M4A1/76 (W) upper hull attached. cast hull 03.JPG|M4 (75mm) hull attached. 2in1 SU 02.JPG|The same trick used on the Soviet medium tank destroyers. 2in1 SU 03.JPG|The placement of the iron rims inside the hull parts. 2in1 Panther 01.JPG|The Panther G/Jagdpanther built using this trick. 2in1 Panther 02.JPG|Notice the placement of the magnet in the bottom hull. Repairing damaged models It is normal that models can be damaged - either while playing or during transport. Most of these damages are easy to mend: * plastic gun barrels in many Mid-War and Late-War tanks might occasionally break if they are long ones. Usually, the barrel can be glued in the breaking point and the "scar" can be covered with proper paint; * the anti-aircraft machine guns (AAMGs) in American tanks and certain Axis tanks are prone to falling down from the pintles - it is a good idea to keep spare ones, in case the original ones are lost. Most of the models contain spare AAMGs in their sprues. T-34 assembly.JPG|The T-34 turrets are best built on the sprues. It saves trouble in gluing the hatches. Jigs (3).JPG|The proper use of a self-made jig. The paint on threads will dry as it should. Rims.JPG Russian tk commanders.JPG|Being painted before clipping from the sprues, the commanders will be fit easily in the tank turrets. King Tiger comparison.JPG|The 212 King Tiger has been fitted with an AAMG. Category:Game mechanics Category:Under Construction